Nomacorc Adds Three New Academic Partners to Expand Oxygen Management Research Program

Posted on September 18, 2012

Nomacorc, the world’s largest producer of synthetic wine closures, has initiated new research projects with three world-renowned academic institutions. The programs will be performed at DLR Rheinpfalz in Germany, Centro Ricerca e Innovazione (CRI) in Italy, and the University of Zaragoza in Spain and will contribute to the ever-growing database that Nomacorc has built to evaluate oxygen’s role in wine development and winemaking processes. In conjunction with ongoing programs at the Geisenheim Institute in Germany and Pontifica Universidad Católica de Chile, these new research initiatives are expected to broaden Nomacorc’s knowledge on wine and oxygen interactions.

The program at DLR Rheinpfalz, a technical university based in Neustadt, Germany, will be led by Professor Ulrich (Uli) Fischer, manager of the university’s enology department and specialist in sensory science. The project will focus on the influence of winemaking technology and oxygen exposure on the sensory and chemical composition of the Pinot Noir wine variety, before and after bottling.

CRI is part of Fondazione Edmund Mach (FEM), a public research institution based in San Michele all’Adige, Italy. CRI has experience working with the Italian wine industry in areas of study including agricultural science, nutrition, and the environment. In addition, CRI is involved in major international initiatives including the Grape Metabolome project. The Nomacorc program will be led by Dr. Fulvio Mattivi, who manages CRI’s analytical chemistry facility, and will focus on the key factors influencing the responsiveness of different wine varieties to oxygen.

The University of Zaragoza’s Laboratorio de Análisis de Aroma y Enología (Aroma and Enology Analysis Laboratory) in Spain is one of the world’s most highly-regarded research groups in the area of wine aroma composition. The program will be led by Professor Vicente Ferreira and will focus on the factors responsible for wine aroma associated with oxidation.

“With the addition of these institutions to our extraordinary research network, we will continue to build upon our understanding of the relationship between oxygen, wine chemistry and wine sensory characteristics,” said Dr. Maurizio Ugliano, enological research manager for Nomacorc. “The knowledge we obtain gets channeled into product development, our partnerships with winemakers, and ultimately, help improve the winemaker’s control of wine development and quality after bottling.”

To date, Nomacorc’s oxygen management research programs have produced detailed information about oxygen exposure susceptibility and levels during various winemaking stages (Pontifica Universidad Católica de Chile), identified significant factors accelerating wine oxidation (University of California, Davis), described the influence of wine chemistry before bottling on wine post-bottling development (Australian Wine Research Institute), determined the influence of bottling on wine development (Geisenheim Institute) and assessed the impact of oxygen ingress rates on post-bottle wine aging, taking into consideration all of this collective knowledge (Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique).

About Nomacorc
Nomacorc is a worldwide leader in wine closures and the No. 1 closure brand for still wines in many countries including France, Germany and the United States. Dedicated to technological innovation, Nomacorc manufactures its portfolio of products using a patented co-extrusion process. As a result, Nomacorc closures provide consistent, predictable oxygen management and protect against off-flavors due to oxidation, reduction or cork taint. Nomacorc’s 100 percent recyclable products are available through a vast network of distributors and sales agents on six continents. With 500 employees worldwide and state-of-the-art manufacturing facilities in the United States, Belgium and China, Nomacorc produces more than 2 billion closures annually. Working with renowned wine research institutes worldwide, the company leads the wine closure industry in fundamental and applied research into oxygen management in wine. For more information, visit nomacorc.com or follow Nomacorc on Twitter (@Nomacorc) and Facebook (Nomacorc).